Honest, I'm not looking for trouble. Just hanging out on Christmas afternoon, watching the Heat vs. the Cavs on ABC, when a State Farm Insurance commercial comes on. Funny stuff. A guy on a treadmill gets so distracted by a shapely young woman on a hamstring machine that he slips and falls off.
Then a trim man, identified by a screen graphic as Dr. Ian Smith, comes by to help him to his feet, and says:
Go on, laugh. But it's not easy getting back in shape. That's why we created the 50-Million Pound Challenge. It's a new way to help our community get healthier together. Get started at 50-Million Pounds dot com.
View video here.
As captured in the photo, as he says "our community" he points to himself, emphasizing "our" as he pronounces it. I'm jarred. Going to the web site confirms things. This is a State Farm weight-loss program explicitly targeted at African-Americans. The program's logo is shown to the right.
So, am I being too touchy? Perhaps. Why don't we do a mirror-image ad?
Cut to a tennis club. A slightly paunchy white guy gets so distracted by the looker on the next court that he runs right into the net post. The white doctor coming to his aid says the same thing as Dr. Smith, again pointing to himself, and . . . we interrupt this commercial to bring you a massive national boycott.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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wow two black folks i'm very familiar with
December 25, 2007 - 18:31 ET by lunaticcringeradioas a white cracker myself i've use dr ian smith diet and it has helped me lose 20lbs in a few months.
i think you might be feeling a litl too sensitive, maybe we should be focusing on some more important political and social worries. i really have to say i've never heard dr ian ever say anything that i could ever find objection to. also take into account that corporations today are so scared to not try and sound exclusive to minority groups, it could have easily been the writers that state farm execs hired to come up with something to not offend the black community, not dr ian. i'd place my bet that it was state farms scared of their own shadow vein of political correctness, not dr ian to blame.
hey we got us ice cream trucks in phoenix that has 4 kids on the truck and not one is white cause they are afraid of the minority groups if they advertise a non poliotically correct banner that has a white kid on it.
i'd say dr ian is in the clear here. of course i'm an evil racist. you should hear the joke i tell.
lunaticcringeradio
this was not written by a
December 25, 2007 - 19:27 ET by Uncle Donthis was not written by a white person. it was written by a black man trying to make this seem ok...it's not.
Like a good Neighbor State Farm is there...well,
December 25, 2007 - 19:24 ET by Uncle Donare we talking a good Black Neighbor or a good White neighbor? Do they care about me as a member of the White Community or do they just want me as a White Customer? Tell you what State Farm, why don't you just depend on your "community" to support you as a company and I'll take my business somewhere else. Say to a company that considers everyone part of the community. This is a horrible, racist campaign and if it was directed at the White Race it would not have ever, ever been considered.
Weight Watchers, Jenny
December 25, 2007 - 19:51 ET by motherbeltWeight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and even LA Weight Loss all seem to target women, and no one seems to have a problem with that; at least not that I've heard.
It would have been more effective, though, and seemed less "racial just for the heck of it" if the guy had mentioned something like the fact that black men as a group are much more likely to suffer from hypertension and to die from it as their white counterparts. Play that up as a reason for targeting that group.
PS The website does say "anyone can join" and get the diet tips and pedometer, etc.
Typical segregated nonsense.
December 25, 2007 - 20:55 ET by GregETypical segregated nonsense. America has come a LONG way from the judgement of people by color of skin, yet so many who supposedly hate that type of judgement sure talk about skin color alot.
And you're correct, turn this into a white weight loss thing and the mobs will march in the streets.
Both are equally nonsensical, yet organize one and you're a saint, but organize the other and you're a grand wizard of the KKK. The double standard is of course blatant and accepted.
Last fat laugh
December 25, 2007 - 21:34 ET by Lame CherryHe who laughs fat laughs last.
I blogged about this early last year in making the reality check that IF there is a food shortage, caused perhaps by a national emergency such as a nuclear device or a mideast war the local grocery has 3 days supply of food at most. Most people do not have anything in their house but microwave dinners.........
So with 6 weeks before food supply shipments would get started one can ask who is going to be alive to laugh? Those hard bodied, silicone boobed, tramp stamped beefcake and centerfold types.......or the Oprah plumper filling southern couches and the beef belly Ted Nugent good buddies all carrying 100 pounds of fat?
My money is on the fat people being the salvation of the United States and Europe. Fat people will survive.
He who laughs fat will laugh the best, because prima barbie and ken will be dead in 21 days.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
sorry cherry
December 25, 2007 - 21:53 ET by botgbut i have my Y2K inspired survival kit ready. The real concern is water
"how would i know? if i knew everything i'd run for God" ----crpl Klinger
Well, according to the
December 25, 2007 - 22:26 ET by dmntd1Well, according to the website, you can create teams. Should I get a racially non-diverse team together, and call us the Demented Crackers?
I really think that questioning others' masculinity is a game probably better left to people who haven't had more cock in and out of them than a Tyson Chicken regional distribution center. AceOfSpades 06162007
Trouble finds Mark
December 25, 2007 - 23:27 ET by UnsaneMr. Finkelstein - Of course you weren't looking for trouble! It always finds you, right? :-)
I saw this advert during that game, and never would have thought anything of it 'til I read your post. So, on that point - does Dr. Smith believe that only people of color suffer issues with obesity (and by extension, State Farm)?
Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest.
...not only a national
December 26, 2007 - 09:39 ET by tater...not only a national boycott but another excuse for "reverends" Al and Jesse to put their faces on tv.
Do you realize how much it costs to run for office? More than any honest man could afford. -Montgomery Burns
Tater, I don't think the
December 27, 2007 - 11:13 ET by MikeBTater, I don't think the irreverent and irrelevant (I will not call either of them "Reverend") race baiters' prime motivation is to get their faces on tv, but to extort another wad of cash from a corporation. The tv air time is a bonus and perhaps an aid to their extortion attempts.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan